Mannahatta -- A Natural History of New York City

Have you ever wondered what New York was like before it was a city? Welcome to Mannahatta, 1609. The explorer Henry Hudson was looking for Oriental riches when he came across Mannahatta, the "island of many hills," home to over fifty-five different eco-systems, with thousands of species including wolves, black bears, bald eagles and more thriving in a landscape shaped over the millennia, an example of the abundance and diversity of nature undiminished by the human footprint.

Landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson is able to recreate what Manhattan looked like in the hours before Hudson arrived using the latest techniques in computational geography and visualization. This book sets forth before us an opportunity to stretch our imaginations back to 1609 as well as ahead to cities and a world where people and wildlife can thrive for years to come. Contains 120 color illustrations.